The Best Dog Food for Your Dog

Life stage is important when considering a new dog food.

A dog that is under 12 months of age should be receiving puppy food for healthy growth and development. Puppies exert more energy than adults or seniors, so they need more protein in their diets.

Adult food, depending on your dog’s energy level, contains less protein. Approximately 18% of calories is required for adult maintenance dog food, compared to the 22.5% of protein puppies need to sustain warmth. If you feed your adult dog puppy food, they will gain weight a lot quicker because they usually don’t have problems sustaining their warmth and energy.

There are adult dog food options that are meant for high-energy level dogs; the American Kennel Club defines high energy dogs as those that are active and fit for activities such as agility training and jogging.

Lastly, there is senior dog foods. These have the lowest form of protein to keep inactive dogs from gaining too much weight. Instead their focus is on joint health, mobility and boosting immunity. PetMD describes when your dog would be considered a senior.

Whichever food you choose, your dog’s life-stage is an important role to incorporate. Each dog is not the same; they have different needs.